


i wanna give you everything

by aelisheva



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canon Jewish Character, Hanukkah, Jewish Dave (Umbrella Academy), Love Confessions, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, Pansexual Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21937432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelisheva/pseuds/aelisheva
Summary: Dave shook his head and laughed. “No no, if you want to light the menorah with me, that’d be really great! Really. I would like that. Besides,” he looked down, “you’re supposed to spend the holidays with people you care about.”
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 21
Kudos: 107
Collections: All Your Faves Are Jewish





	i wanna give you everything

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Opal_Lakes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opal_Lakes/gifts).



> written as a secret-santa-klaus gift exchange present for the awesome opal-lakes on tumblr! hope you enjoy!!  
> the title is from the chanukah song of the same name by buzzy lee.

“Take a look at this!” Private MacPherson sped past all the soldiers around the campground who were eating lunch. He skidded to a stop in front of Hargreeves and Katz while waving a miniature pine tree in his hands. “Guess we’re having Christmas on the base after all.”

“Neat,” both of them shrugged. Klaus blinked -- since when did he call things “neat?” Jesus, this place was really rubbing off on him. 

“Where are you gonna find the ornaments for it, though?” Klaus asked. 

MacPherson looked behind him. “Well, I think Sinclair was going to make some...”

“No, I wasn’t,” Sinclair called back.

“What??” MacPherson sped back off to talk some sense into him. After he’d cleared the area, Dave and Klaus looked at each other and laughed.

“Do you think you’re gonna go to the unit’s Christmas stuff later this month?” Dave asked.

Klaus shrugged. “I don’t know, it looks pretty sappy from what I’ve heard of the planning...Hey, Chanukah starts tomorrow night. Isn’t there a rabbi coming over for that?”

“Well yeah, but his service also looks kind of sappy. I’d rather just light a menorah on my own.”

Klaus nodded. “That makes sense. If you want me to leave you alone for that…”

Dave shook his head and laughed. “No no, if you want to light the menorah with me, that’d be really great! Really. I would like that. Besides,” he looked down, “you’re supposed to spend the holidays with people you care about.”

“Oh!” Klaus looked down so Dave couldn’t see him blush. “Oh, okay. So. Um...What do I need to know about menorah lighting? What do you do for that?”

“Well, there’s special prayers that you have to say in Hebrew. And usually you only say two blessings, but on the first night only, you say three.”

“The third is called the Shechechyanu,” Klaus grinned.

Dave nodded. “Very good.” Over the past few weeks, Dave had been trying to teach Klaus Hebrew and Yiddish, since Hargreeves was so into foreign languages. His pronunciation for both was terrible, of course, but it was still really cute to hear him try. “Have you ever celebrated before?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Not unless you counted the December he spent with his Jewish ex-girlfriend Allison Arnstein. Well, one week of December. Actually less than that. But the two of them weren’t built to last anyway. Also, she shared the same name as his sister, and that was pretty weird. As jealous as Klaus was of Luther, he was _ not _ about to emulate his weird crush on Allison - or on  _ anyone _ named Allison.

But Dave Katz? He was entirely different. If it wasn’t for Dave, Klaus would’ve booked it out of this place while all the real soldiers headed off that bus. If it wasn’t for Dave, Klaus would’ve gone on stumbling his way through life, certain that he was the only person who would ever look out for or care about himself…This holiday was really important to Dave, and Klaus wanted to make it special for him. Even if he didn’t have the money for a good gift. 

The following evening, Dave borrowed a menorah from the visiting Rabbi Kahn. After Klaus picked up some matches, the two of them walked over to a secluded clearing on the base.

Klaus struck a match against the matchbox. His eyes widened as the flame cracked and wavered into life. He leaned it against a candle, then shook out the flame on the match. Dave took the candle from him and used it to light the first candle of the menorah, before setting the shamash candle into place as well. Dave recited the three blessings, and then all was quiet.

Klaus blinked at the tiny orange flames. “This is nice.”

“Thanks.” Dave looked over at Klaus, who was oddly quiet. He was never quiet. Something was going on. “Was there...was there something you wanted to say, Hargreeves?”

Klaus jerked his head over, then quickly cleared his throat. “Yeah. Oh yeah. Yes, actually...I’ve been practicing all day.”

Dave laughed and rolled his eyes. “Okay, but if this is another one of those stories about the time your brother --”

“Ikh hob dir lieb.”

Dave was still smiling at his own joke. “Wow, very good Yiddish pronunciation….” He trailed off, eyes widening and catching more of the flames. “But that’s...I’m sorry, but what you just said was Yiddish for --”

“I love you.”

Dave’s stare turned softer as tears started to rush over the candle fire in his eyes.

Klaus froze. Had he done something wrong? “Did I say something…”

“N-no, no, it’s…” Dave managed to get out. He inched closer. “I feel the same way. I know it’s only been a few months since the dance at the bar but --”

Klaus grabbed him into a hug. “I know. Me too. Especially since. You know. The longest I’ve ever been with anyone is three weeks. I’m not  _ supposed  _ to know what love is.”

Dave stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Klaus jerked his head down in a grunt. “No! No, I --” He sighed. “Jesus Christ. This was supposed to be really romantic, I was supposed to go into a whole speech about how special I wanted to make this holiday for you, especially since a soldier’s allowance can’t cover one  _ cough drop, _ let alone a good gift --”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Dave said, relaxing, “I completely get it. Uh, especially the gift thing...If I had the money, I’d buy you the most swinging skirt or dress I could find.”

“If I had the money, I’d buy you all the Doors records I could carry. I just...I’m so in love with you I don’t know how to show it. Shit, I already said that.”

“Klaus.” He broke them apart so they could look eye to eye. Ikh hob dir lieb. Ikh hob dir lib azoy fil.” Dave kissed the seance’s forehead.

Klaus snuggled back into the hug. “What you said.”

“It’s just...it’s nice to feel loved, you know? Usually I’m always the one who gives out affection and never really gets it back.”

“Hey.” Klaus leaned up and kissed his forehead. “How was that?”

“A little better, zeiskeit.”

“How about this?” Klaus dipped him into a real, deep kiss, and Dave returned it while running his hands through Klaus’s curls.

All was well. Especially since the forest didn't burn down.


End file.
